


And Long After You're Gone

by Its_Always_Locked



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-13
Updated: 2013-07-13
Packaged: 2017-12-19 08:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_Always_Locked/pseuds/Its_Always_Locked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nancy's leaving for a case...again. With Ned alone with his friend Dave, the two have a moment where Ned realizes how important Nancy truly is to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Long After You're Gone

Ned sighed. Once again, he was stuck at one end of the airport terminal waving goodbye while the girl he loved was walking briskly towards the other end.   
Nancy was a great detective, and Ned loved that about her, but he didn’t think she knew how much he depended on her strength to pull him through the hard times life had thrown at him. When his mom had been in the hospital two years ago with a terrifying touch-and-go situation, who else but Nancy held Ned when he cried for the first time since his pet turtle had passes away?  
Although the three year age gap stood between them, it seemed as though time stopped whenever she smiled at him. Something about Nancy Drew made him hold his head up high and push through the pressures of being at college while she was nearly there.   
With one final sigh, he watched Nancy round the corner and disappear from sight. He slowly walked back to the car where his best friend Dave Evans was waiting for him. The three of them had driven up together in order to avoid the traffic that came without using the commuter lane on the highway.   
Dave honked the horn to signal where he was waiting and Ned hopped in the red car.   
“So,” Dave asked while pulling back into the traffic lane, “you say goodbye to your girlfriend?” Ned nodded but didn't say anything else, hoping that Dave would pick up on the signal of not wanting to breach the subject anymore.   
Unfortunately, he did not. “Dude, you did good. I mean that hair color isn’t something a lot of girls could pull off, but dang on Nancy-“  
“Hey, that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about, remember?” Ned answered, frustrated by the fact that his best friend couldn’t even read him. He shook his head slightly and turned back to the window.   
“Oh, no man you got it wrong,” Dave replied. “I, obviously well, am trying to say that you two have a good thing. I can tell how it affects you when she leaves. Although it sounds like she’s got a sick job traveling all the time,” and Ned laughed at that.   
Ned hadn't told Dave what Nancy did while she traveled, per say. It might have been a slight variation on the truth. And more like a large one, now that Ned thought about it. But he understood what his friend was trying to say and appreciated it. Some guys just didn’t get that Nancy was truly special to Ned.   
The radio was playing quietly in the background on the ride. Ned was tapping his hand on the door when the words of the song suddenly sunk in.  
When enemies are at your door I’ll carry you far away if you need help,   
Your hope dangling by a string, I’ll share in your suffering to make you well.   
Ned smiled and turned up the radio a bit. Something about this song felt like it described him and Nancy rather well. Dave laughed and smiled at the song, joining Ned in their makeshift band by hitting the steering wheel in time with the drums. When the chorus came back, the two wailed out the lines:  
And I would do it for you, for you  
Baby I’m not moving on, I’ll love you long after you’re gone  
For you, for you.  
Laughing, Dave pulled into Ned’s driveway and came to a stop. “That was awesome, man! We should form a band!” Dave had always been an enthusiastic eccentric, so Ned high-fived him and told him they should practice in the fall once they moved into an apartment together.   
Just as he was about to walk into his house, the car horn went off and Dave came running up with an envelope waving in his hands.  
“Ah, I forgot this! Nancy said to give it to you once she left.” Dave smiled to one side and left saying, “Like I said dude, you got a good one. Don’t let her go!” and left Ned ripping the letter open to see what was inside.   
Dear Ned…  
And this caused Ned to laugh. Nancy had always been old-fashioned, and hand writing a letter was nothing new to surprise him, yet it did.   
The letter was sweet. One quick page scribbled onto the back of a baseball ticket printout that had obviously been written in the car with Ned not even noticing.   
At the end though, Ned felt his heart stutter for a moment when he read;  
And I head this song on the radio yesterday that made me think of you! The best line, ok the only one I can remember, said: you’re my backbone, you’re my cornerstone. You’re my crutch when my legs stop moving. I’m not moving on, I’ll love you long after you’re gone.   
And Ned, I feel like this was about us; the two who made it despite some pretty crazy circumstances. So thank you for being the best thing that happened to me, and my rock in this crazy tornado that has become my life.   
Love, Nancy.   
The smile on Ned’s face was so wide that he couldn’t help but finding the song online and, like a giant dork, danced around his room to it.   
Nancy Drew; teen detective, savior of lives, and the best thing that had ever happened to Ned Nickerson.  
Dave was right. She was something he could never, ever let go of, and someone he never planned on.


End file.
